Kerchak
Kerchak is a major supporting character in Disney's Tarzan. He is the mate of Kala and leader of the troop of gorillas that adopt the infant Tarzan. He is voiced by Lance Henriksen. History In the film's prologue, Kerchak and his gorilla troop discover a human camp in their jungle, but find that its occupants have been killed by the cheetah Sabor, except for their infant child. Kala, having recently lost her own child, takes pity on the human child and decides to raise it as her own, naming him Tarzan. Kerchak, however, is wary of allowing outsiders into the family and sees the boy as a potential threat, but does not stop Kala from taking him. As the years go by, Kala watches Tarzan grow and go to great lengths to be accepted by the rest of the troop. While most of the troop do come to accept Tarzan, Kerchak still refuses to acknowledge him and keeps his distance from him. It is only after Tarzan saves his life and kills Sabor that Kerchak begrudgingly shows him any degree of respect. After Jane Porter, her father and Clayton arrive in the jungle, Terk and the younger gorillas investigate their camp while the humans are away. Jane later returns to camp with Tarzan after he saved her from a troop of baboons where they find the young gorillas have wrecked the campsite. Kerchak soon arrives and is displeased with the humans' presence, warning Tarzan and the others to stay away from the humans. Tarzan argues that the humans mean no harm, having spent time among them, but Kerchak refuses to listen. Angered by his judgmental, unkind opinions of him, Tarzan aggressively confronts Kerchak on why he feels threatened by anything he considers different. Stunned by this challenge to his authority, Kerchak warns Tarzan against visiting the humans and orders him to protect the family by staying away from them. Unknown to Kerchak though, Tarzan continues to regularly visit them behind his back and falls in love with Jane. He, nonetheless, refuses initially to show them the gorillas despite their requests fearing that Kerchak would harm them if he discovered them near the troop. Eventually, Clayton, who secretly wishes to capture and sell the gorillas for profit, manipulates the situation by leading Tarzan to believe that Jane and her father would stay if they could see them. Convinced, Tarzan asks Terk and Tantor to distract Kerchak to which they reluctantly agree. Kerchak is next seen chasing Tantor and Terk dressed as Professor Porter and Jane respectively through the jungle believing them to have intruded. However, the duo accidentally leads him back to the nest and soon enough he comes crashing through the bushes in a rage. When he sees the Porters there, he immediately realizes Tarzan brought them and is shocked by the sight of them. Tarzan tries to explain, but Kerchak goes into bestial fury when he witnesses Clayton point his rifle at a member of the family he was skirmishing with and charges at him with the intention of attacking him, throwing aside Tarzan when he tries to stop him. Kerchak turns back to the human's and charges when Tarzan fights and pins him to the ground to allow them to escape. Releasing him, a guilt-ridden Tarzan apologizes for what he did but Kerchak, feeling betrayed and deceived, renounces any respect he held for Tarzan and disowns him completely, bitterly saying he betrayed their family. Emotionally conflicted and confused, Tarzan runs off. After Kala shows him his true origins, he decides to leave with Jane, though it is unknown how or whether Kerchak reacted to this news. Later that night, the troop comes under attack from Clayton and his men (who had betrayed and imprisoned Tarzan and the Porters). Kerchak comes to his family's defense, but is quickly trapped in a net fired by the poachers leaving the gorillas defenseless as they are captured and imprisoned. Eventually breaking free, Kerchak rushes over to save them but is once again brought down by Clayton's men and blinded. Clayton appears before Kerchak and, remembering him, smugly intends to return the favour by killing him outright and having him stuffed. Before he can shoot him, however, Tarzan arrives reinforced with numerous jungle animals as well Terk, Tantor and the Porter's. Tarzan frees him and after Kerchak expresses surprise that he came back, Tarzan replies that he came home. Death Kerchak and Tarzan work together to defeat the poachers and free the rest of the family. After Tarzan is shot in the arm by a vengeful Clayton, Kerchak sees this and rushes at the hunter to protect Tarzan. However, Clayton turns his rifle to Kerchak and fires, the shot fatally wounding the silverback to the horror of Tarzan. Following his battle with Clayton, who died in the confrontation, Tarzan heads over to a dying Kerchak who was being comforted by Kala. Asking for his forgiveness, Kerchak, in turn, asks for Tarzan's for not treating him as a part of the family. He then passes on leadership to Tarzan and finally accepts him as his foster son saying "Our family will look to you now. Take care of them my son. Take care of them" before he succumbs to his wounds and dies. Tarzan and the troop mourn his death as Mother Nature brings a rainstorm to show her own sadness before Tarzan, vowing to fulfill his promise to Kerchak, leads them on. Category:Movie Deaths Category:Animated Characters Category:Supporting Characters Category:Animals Category:Disney Characters Category:Tarzan Category:Died In Battle Category:Heroic Deaths Category:Last to Go Category:Death by Shooting Category:Bled to Death Category:Tragic Deaths